


In my Heart and in my Head

by Onlymostydead



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Body Sharing, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Confessions of love, M/M, Marriage, Panic Attacks, Post-Calamity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 15:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17490221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlymostydead/pseuds/Onlymostydead
Summary: Link has gotten used to the other Champions chatting in his head, so then why is Revali silent?





	In my Heart and in my Head

**Author's Note:**

> This was for Billie! Love you, Billie <3

By now, Link had gotten used to the stream of near constant chatter in his head. It had been months ago that he saved Mipha from her Divine Beast, setting her free to follow him everywhere, trailing inside his head.

So he had saved Revali next, alarmed but not surprised by what he had eventually learned from him. Getting information from him was like pulling teeth, but really, he saw it coming. The moment he laid eyes on him again, in that memory on Revali's Landing back in Rito Village, he had fallen a little bit in love. It was too easy to, looking at him, thinking about him... It was only confirmation to his suspicions to learn that he and Revali had been in love before their world ended.   
Sure, that was over now, but Revali was always with him, at least... Most of the time. He had been reluctant to offer even that information, oddly enough.

After defeating the divine beasts, he had learned more about each Champion as they travelled. Urbosa's favorite food was voltfruit. Mipha had been the one to teach Link how to fish with his bare hands. There are still trenches dug down mountainsides from Daruk deciding to roll down them. But Revali? He barely said a word.  
It was especially strange since he had, apparently, talked so much when he was alive. The moment he confirmed the feelings they had for each other, he disappeared again. At first, the silence was nice, but...

It made Link's heart ache. It made him want to throw something, or scream. Nothing was right, is was all wrong, wrong, wrong. Why, if they loved each other, did he stay silent? Why wouldn't he say a single word?

So he had to take matters into his own hands.

Staying often in Rito Village as he prepared to fight Ganon, Link hoped to receive just one more memory. He wanted to know something, anything. 

But, of course, Revali was unwilling to help. The others would, as they themselves were reminded, share memories, but he refused.

Everyone else was staying quiet right now too, seeming to sense Link's foul mood. He just needed to be left alone right now, and he would be able to if he didn't have four other people in his head.  
Sometimes, it felt like five. Like the other Link, the old one, the one Revali was in love with, was also there. He didn't say anything, just quietly judged. It all just got too overwhelming.

So Link climbed, up and up, to the very top of the Rito Village pillar. Everyone in the village talking to him felt wrong, their existence just grating the wrong way. Why, if he was slowly morphing into the person he was a hundred years ago, was he still surrounded by people from the present? He was followed by four or five ghosts, trailing behind him, talking in his head. How was he also here?

It wasn't fair. His life didn't feel like his life; it was just another piece for the goddess to use. And he was sick of it. He would do his job, but right now? He just needed to escape all of this.

From the top of Rito Village, the world almost looked peaceful. The sun was setting slowly, casting the world in its reds and golds.

"I know I haven't been fair to you."

The voice came out of nowhere, nearly startling Link out of his seat; but realizing that it was Revali, he sat back down. His heart was pounding in his chest.

Now he decides to talk?

"You know I can hear some of your thoughts, right?" Revali scoffed, and Link could see how he would shake his head. "I just wanted to... To apologize."

He raised an eyebrow. "You? Apologize?"

"I've been an asshole, we both know that."

Link frowned. "But it doesn't seem right for you to just... Accept that."

"Well, maybe I've changed." He said, an edge of bitterness to his voice. 

"Well, I have too."

"No kidding." He snorted.

Link glowered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I noticed." Revali snorted. "You're open. You're more social than you've ever been. That temper certainly developed, even though it was never there before. You have more freckles, you laugh more easily-"

"I know, I know!"

That didn't deter him from finishing at all. "And you always seem to be yelling about how I don't love you because you've changed. How do you know that?"

"Know what? That I've changed? You just made a whole list about it!"

"No, you idiot." He spat. "That I don't love you."

Link could feel his eyes welling up, his face hit, his heart aching. He didn't want to be yelling, to be signing so angrily. All he wanted was to cry.

"Because you're never there!"

"I'm always there!" Revali shot back, and he could feel him pacing, talking with his hands in his mind. "I'm always here, listening, wondering if you fell in love with the right person."

Suddenly, all of the heat that had risen in his face dissipated. The Tabantha winds felt like they were cutting through him. The tears began to fall, but only softly down his face. They blurred his vision, blotting out the sunset.

"What do you mean?"

"Link, just... You know what? Have this." He shook his head. "You may as well be happy now."

The sunset looked eerily familiar, all of a sudden, as he blinked the tears from his eyes. Link's head begun to spin. Heart pounding, body going numb, he opened his eyes to see the past.

***

It was just him and Revali, sitting on the top of the pillar. Divine Beast Vah Medoh was flying in the distance, far off in the sky. They had just finished with some business; talking with the elder, Link thought, but he really wasn't sure.

That was the last thing on his mind right now.

"Well, I suppose this is it." Revali sighed, staring off into the clouds. "Until we defeat Ganon, or, rather, until we make that journey with Zelda up to the mountain... This is goodbye."

Link frowned. He didn't want to think about this. Spending this time in Rito Village had been amazing for him. He felt alive and well, almost free. Almost. There was always duty, pulling him back to earth.  
Gently, he reached over and laid his hand on Revali's wing. Immediately he puffed up, and Link chuckled.

"I'll miss you." He signed, glancing away from Revali for a moment before meeting his eyes. "It seems a little nicer with you here."

Revali snorted. "What seems nicer?"

"This whole mission." Link explained, frowning at his hands. "Sometimes I'm convinced it's suicide, and that we're all going to die."

He laughed. "No one's going to die, Link. Do you have that little faith in me? As long as you're not there to mess me up-"

"You keep saying that I throw you off."

"It's true!" Revali puffed up a little more. "You are such an annoyance, doing your own little thing as the Appointed Knight, carrying your little sword."

Link smiled, shaking his head. "I think I do better with you around."

If he wasn't ruffled before, he sure was now. "Well, I- I don't-"

Chuckling, Link stared out into the sunset. "You'll be with me, though."

Revali blinked. "What makes you say that?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "But I know you will. In my head-" he signed for his own, then tapped Revali's forehead. "-and in my heart." He repeated the action, this time laying his hand on Revali's breastplate. "But I do have a question..."

"What?"

"What are we?" Link looked up at him, meeting those eyes.

Revali made him feel different. He felt softer, almost. Here, when Revali was almost quiet and he was almost gentle. It was a nice place to be. His heart pounded in his chest, and his head spun in dizzy circles, but... In a good way.   
He knew that they were more than just colleagues. More than friends. They had kissed, in the Rito way. They shared the same hammock when Link stayed here in Rito Village. All of the villagers thought they were courting, and he was sure that the other Champions thought the same, too.

Revali swallowed. "I suppose I don't know the exact words. What about this: after this is all over, and Ganon is defeated, we'll figure it out."

"That sounds an awful lot like a cop out." Link chided.

He puffed up again. "Well, it's not! I just... I need some time to get my thoughts and feelings straightened out."

"I think I understand."

"Thank you." Revali smoothed out a little, settling back down. "But, I want to let you know... I feel the same way."

Link smiled, and his heart felt like it would burst from his chest, the dizziness in his head overwhelming. Slowly and quickly all at once, time caught up with him. His fingers were numb to the feeling of Revali's smooth feathers, his eyes blind to the sunset.

They leaned in, just a little bit, as the last of Link's vision failed him.

***

When he came back to the present time, Link was crying. It wasn't a sobbing, overwhelming type of crying, just tears running down his face. It surprised him how numb he still felt on the inside, how he didn't know how to feel.

"Well?" Revali asked, sighing out into to sunset. "Things aren't over yet. I've had a hundred years to think about it, and I still don't know quite what we are."

Link shook his head. "Me neither. But maybe... If you start talking to me, we'll go figure it out?"

"Still by the time you defeat Ganon?"

"Sounds about right." Link nodded. "Hey, Revali?"

"What?"

"Thank you... For sharing that. I don't remember much of you, you know."

He sighed again. "I know. It's just that... Dying will change a person, Link."

"I know."

"And so will a hundred years." He continued, gaining steam. "I've lost confidence. I'm not so sure about who I am without my skills. I was always the warrior, the Champion, the best of the Rito, but I..."

Link swallowed, wiping away his tears.

"I'm just a spirit." Revali finally finished, voice breaking. "And I don't know what to do."

"Me neither." He shook his head. "So, even though we're both different..."

"Let's give it a shot. What could go wrong?"

Link smiled. "Alright, then. Where to next? I have twenty more shrines I need to find."

"Mm, try Hebra." Revali suggested. At the very least, you'll find some people there. I got a great view of the area when I was stuck on Medoh."

"Okay, Hebra it is."

So Link jumped off the pillar, feeling better than he had in a long time, soaring on his paraglider. Though, this feeling reminded him of...

***

Link's hands were clenched tight to that straps on Revali's back, knees pressed snugly to his sides. He had never even considered a Rito flying a Hylian somewhere, though, if they did, he would have guessed that they would grab onto the Hyliab's shoulders with their talons. Though, this was far more comfortable.  
Beyond just the question of Rito, the fact that he was on Revali's back was surreal. The proud Rito Champion, giving him a lift. It was just absurd.

"Stop squeezing so tight!" Revali yelled over his shoulder, loud enough to hear even with the wind. "What, are you afraid of heights?"

Link shook his head, and leaned over to prove it. The view of the land below was dizzying; the rolling Tabantha hills and deep gouged out canyons. The land had been shaped by earthquakes and storms, splitting it apart and raising it up.

Letting himself lean in more, he was startled to find how much he trusted Revali. At any moment he could throw him off, but...  
He smiled to himself. Maybe they could learn to get along after all.

To be partners.

***

The wind was still hitting Link's face. His hands were gripped tight to his paraglider. Inside, he felt cold; it was the same feeling after the other memory.

"I don't know what was going through your head," Revali confessed. "But I know that it was a defining moment for me, in the very beginning."

Link nodded, a lump in his throat. "I trusted you."

"You really did."

"Even back before that conversation?"

"I think you always trusted me, Link."

And he went back to the silence of the wind rushing in his ears. Revali's melancholy tone echoed in his head, but he thought there was a bit of hope there, too. Maybe they could trust and love each other again.

"Hey, you should head that way." Daruk suggested. "Over there, straight up the cliff face."

Link groaned, but went along with it; there was always a reason for Daruk's antics. Sometimes it was just for fun, but sometimes there was real reason behind it. If only he could tell the difference.

But instead of climbing, he crouched down to summon Revali's gale. And as he flew up into the air, he swore that he could reach out and touch him.

If only...

***

The cabins and shines in Hebra were few and far between, but the cold weather seemed to bring them all together in a way they hadn't been before. Even though the Champions could only feel a little of what he could feel...

"Could you scoot closer to the fire?" Mipha asked in a tiny voice, the quiver of her jaw just audible.

Complying, he tried his best not to set fire to himself while he was at it. The cave he was in was actually a monster skull, one that he had defeated all of the enemies inside. At the time, it seemed like as good a place as any to stay the night. Now? It just felt cold.

"Brr! It really is cold." Daruk added. "Wish I could do something about that for you, Princess."

"It's alright. Thank you, though."

Urbosa sighed. "If the thing didn't have such giant eye sockets, this effort would a a lot more successful... And if you got off the ground."

Link frowned. "I can't build a fire on the little platform up there."

"I know that." He could hear her shake her head, practically. "But you can break it apart so that you're lying on the wood instead of the ground. It'll suck all the heat from you, be sure of that."

Revali snorted. "It's not even that cold."

"Look who decided to grave us with his presence!" Daruk laughed. "Wow, Bird. Good to have you back."

"You're seriously still calling me Bird?"

Mipha chuckled. "We're always calling you Bird."

"...fair enough." He sighed. "Well, I suppose Hylians aren't made for this weather."

"They really aren't." Urbosa said. "Just because we're resistant to the cold-"

"You're resistant to the cold?" Revali interrupted.

She sighed yet again. "Yes, Revali. Believe it or not, the Gerudo desert faces fiercely cold weather at night, and the highlands are worse."

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't-"

Link interrupted him by taking his iron sledgehammer to the side of the structure. The wood splintered, one corner falling.

Daruk laughed heartily, clapping on... Something. "That's the spirit! Give that wood a piece of your mind!"

Revali sighed. "You know, you don't have to be so... Barbaric about it."

"You think that's barbaric?" Daruk kept laughing. "Have you seen his skimpy little Barbarian armor?"

Even though he couldn't see him, Link could tell Revali puffed up at that. "Yes. Yes, I have."

And of course, Link blushed too. After breaking apart a few more pieces, he put together a stack flat wood and bone beside the fire, laying down on top of it.

And then, very quietly. "Could you more just a little closer?"

"Of course."

***

But the shrines were the worst of all, because he was alone. It took forever to break through the ice, and the moment he got through to the shrine? The Champions had to stay behind. It was the worst reminder that they were just ghosts, following him and helping along the way. 

When he finished and left with another spirit orb it felt like coming home. The only one missing was Zelda, but...

When did he start thinking like this?

Things with the Champions had always felt awkward, because he didn't quite fit. He wasn't the Link he used to be, so what-

"Because you're our friend anyway, Little Guy." Daruk interrupted his thoughts. "Doesn't matter if you're a little different."

Urbosa chuckled. "It's true, you know. We've grown quite fond of you."

"Even if you're not the same," Mipha added. "You're you."

"I'll wait to pass that judgement." 

"Revali!" If Mipha could have smacked him, she probably would have.

"What? It's true." He defended, practically crossing his arms. "He's certainly not the same person I... We've all changed."

"But we're all friends!" Daruk reminded. "...right?"

"Of course." Urbosa answered.

Link could see the way her eyes flashed at Revali. The more he focused on it, the more it felt like he could see how they were in his head.

Revali scoffed.

"Alright, where to next?" Link changed the topic, pulling out the Sheikah Slate. "I've already covered all this ground..."

"You should head up there." Urbosa pointed out a dark spot to the north. "It looks promising."

He nodded. "Alright. Time to break out of this ice again."

"You know, maybe after this you should head back down to Lurelin." Daruk scratched his head. "If the weather was warmer, it could make Revali be less of a frigid bi-"

"Daruk, watch your language." Urbosa bluntly interrupted him. "There are practical children present."

"You know, I'm not that young." Mipha argued, but was ignored.

"Bird. I was going to say bird." Daruk covered up. "I was watching my language."

She rolled her eyes.

Link held his great flame blade a little closer to the ice, slowly watching it wear away.

Revali yawned. "This takes forever. Do I have to follow you around all the time?"

"Where else would you go?"

"Mm..." He hummed, thinking about it for a minute. "Maybe I'd be in Lurelin, like Daruk said. Hot sand, nice beaches..."

"You hate sand, you dork." Link snorted. "It gets all in your feathers, and you feel gritty for weeks."

Revali raised his eyebrows. "Maybe so. Kakariko Village is... Charming."

"Old, more like." Daruk pointed out. "You definitely mean old. Everybody there's much closer to my age than you kid's."

"You're just complaining so you have something to say, aren't you?" 

Mipha smiled a little bit, and everyone fell silent for about five seconds before bursting into laugher. 

"It's happening all over again!" Daruk declared. "He's complaining and starting fights just to have an excuse to talk to Link."

"I am not!"

But the memory hit him instantly, blacking out his vision.

***

When he opened his eyes, it was in Kakariko Village. He and Revali were sitting at one of the outdoor tables, a bowl in front of each of them. Link was eating as quickly as he could while maintaining dignity, shoveling bite after bite of the vegetable stew into his mouth. Revali, on the other hand, barely picked at his.

"You know, it's far more difficult than you would think, eating stew with a beak." He declared, mashing a large piece of carrot against the bottom of his bowl. "In fact, it's ridiculous."

Link raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, think about it." Revali dropped his spoon into the bowl. "Rito don't have freaky little teeth like everyone else. That means that we eat our food properly: in bites that we can swallow whole."

He snickered, but didn't say anything as Revali picked up his spoon again and, with great difficulty, chopped up more of the stew.

"Which means that we generally cut things a little smaller. That's inconvenience number one." The bowl almost tipped over as Revali continued to hack at a thick piece of pumpkin. "If we have soup, it doesn't have chunks in it. That way, we can just drink it normally. Inconvenience number two."

He was holding up fingers for emphasis, which only got Link to laugh harder.

"Why are you laughing? It's an actual problem." His feathers puffed up a little. "And number three is that Hylian spoons are far too small to be easily used."

Link shook his head, letting out a little sigh. "Do you want me to cut it up for you?"

"No, absolutely not." Revali huffed. "I don't need your help."

"Do you want me to feed you?"

"You, Link, are a little bastard who doesn't take anything seriously."

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, shut up and eat your soup then." Revali turned his head away. "Bastard."

And as Link finished his stew, all he could think about was why Revali started talking to him in the first place, if only to complain in a potentially embarrassing way. Maybe, just maybe, they were getting closer after all.

***

"Thank the goddess you're back!" Revali declared with an impatient huff. "The ice is melted. Get out of here, idiot."

Blinking a couple times to reorient himself, Link started out into the tundra.

"...so, we all saw that, right?" Mipha asked, a smile pulling at her lips.

Urbosa snickered. "You can't eat stew?" 

"I never said that!" Revali crossed his arms. "It's just difficult."

"I agree, Bird." Daruk nodded. "I agree."

"Come on, let's just get going."

"But... That just proved it." Daruk pointed out.

"Proved what?"

"That there's nowhere Bird would rather be than here, with Link."

Revali grumbled. "Well, maybe not here..."

***

One by one, the shrines all fell. Link only had one left now; and if the information he got was correct, he knew where it was.

Hyrule Castle.

He had been gearing up and getting ready for months now. Everything from praying to cooking to practicing his dodges... Link had done it all. And now he was almost ready.

Just one more shrine.

"It'll probably be easy, all of them have been so far." Revali pointed out.

They were the only ones awake. Link had to make his way across a greater portion of Hyrule Field than he liked to avoid the Guardians. So Revali had decided to stay up to keep him company.

"Do you seriously just want me to keep talking to you? This is getting weird. I feel almost as if I'm talking to myself." He yawned, stretching his wings over his head. "But I'll comply, if that's what you want. What should I tell you? Should I tell stories? Sing? Make fun of the other Champions while they're asleep?"

Link shrugged. "Sure."

"Sure. I give you three options, and you say sure. So I suppose I should do all of them, shouldn't I?" Revali hummed. "Though, I don't feel like singing... You know who never says that?"

"Who?"

"Daruk."

Link groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. "You just got one of his marching songs stuck in my head."

"Which one?" Revali laughed. "I had the one about the Magma Monster Roll stuck in my head."

"I got the one with the Meteor Power Shower."

"Oh, I loathe that one." He groaned. "It's just-"

Thunder boomed, and Link noticed for the first time the clouds that had rolled overhead. Pulling on the Thunder Helm, he thought nothing more of it.

But Revali stayed silent. At first he wondered if he was mad, or if he had fallen asleep, but the silence was starting to get louder in his head, overwhelming everything else. 

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

So he screamed. And screamed. The feeling had overtaken all of him, striking him disown with every crack of thunder. Breaking down into a ball in the middle of the Hyrule field, all he could do was beg to not be alone. He'd been alone for a hundred years, and he couldn't let that happen again.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

He closed his eyes, and eventually passed out from exhaustion.

***

After the storm passed, Revali was there again. Only in his mind, of course, but he was there nonetheless. It was like he walked over and sat down beside him, laying a hand on Link's shoulder. 

"I'm sorry." His voice cracked, swallowing. "I couldn't... I couldn't be there for you."

The sun was starting to rise; he had been out for the rest of the night.

Link shook his head, sitting up a bit more. "It's... It's alright. I'm not alone anymore."

Revali shook his head. "It's just... You know what? Here."

The dizziness overtook Link again, and he fell face forward into the grass.

***

The memory was murky, and Link was hit with the realization that he wasn't here. This scene, outside of Rito Village, on the string of bridges there, had to have come solely from Revali's mind. Sure enough, there was a small Rito child with dark blue feathers and electric green eyes, standing dead still on one of the islands in between. His eyes were wide with fear, wings trembling.

Lighting flashed, thunder rolling, and he flinched, curling up into a little ball.

Emotions waved over him, everything Revali was feeling. 

He was scared, the thunder booming in his sensitive ears, making his head spin. The lightning flashed, striking at trees, scorching rocks, or-  
A flash of lightning struck a nearby tree, and Revali, paralyzed by fear, merely stood and watched it fall towards him. At only the very last second did the danger register, and he dove out of the way.

The tree caught his leg. It wasn't crushed, Link could tell by the amount of pain, but he was pinned in place.

Trapped.

Facedown in the mud, Revali began to cry harder and harder, knowing full well that no one would find him there.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

The numbness slowly faded in, though Link couldn't tell if it was his own, or Revali's. He had begun to hyperventilate, passing out right where he lay.  
Then the storm got quiet. Slowly, his eyes grew dim...

***

And Link was back where he fell, facedown in the middle of Hyrule field.

"I feel what you feel." Revali choked. "The lightning scared me into silence, but the loneliness..."

"It shut you down?"

He nodded. "We should get going, though. The castle isn't going to come to us."

Pulling himself to his feet, Link got himself back up. "Alright, let's go."

"That's the spirit!" Daruk piped up with a grin. "Get it? It's funny, 'cause we're all-"

"Spirits." Mipga sighed. "We get it, Daruk."

He laughed at his own joke, and Link couldn't help but snicker a little bit. It was early morning now, the night wasted entirely in the thunderstorm. Just more wasted time.  
His body was exhausted, sure, but that wasn't going to stop him. Daruk was singing one of his marching songs now, eventually dragging Urbosa and Mipha into it, too. Begrudgingly, Revali joined in as well.

After all, every single one of them knew the words to the Magma Monster Roll by heart.

In no time he made it to the castle, forcing his way forward. It was impossible to avoid conflict with guardian's now, but with Urbosa, Daruk, and Mipha backing him up? It was easy to carve his path in. After all, he wasn't alone.

And with Revali's gale, getting into the castle was easy. It took a little bit of time searching around for the shrine, but eventually he made it. Lighting the pyre with an arrow, the final shrine rose from the ground.

"Well, well, well." Revali smirked. "You finally did it. Though, your form is sloppy."

It was only a few nights ago that Link had regained the memory of Revali teaching him to better shoot a bow. After that, he hadn't shut up about form. He rolled his eyes, and stepped forward.

He knew, once he went in, that he would be alone.

"I'll be right back, okay?"

And with that, he placed the Sheikah Slate on the pedestal. Alone again, he thought grimly, as the platform took him down.

***

The moment Link was out of the shrine, is was as if Revali was crushing him in a hug.

"Took you long enough," He grumbled. "Couldn't go any faster?"

Link shook his head. "I went as fast as I could."

"Well, it wasn't fast enough."

He sighed. "Alright, alright. And now... I just need to find a goddess statue."

Revali rolled his eyes. "Just warp somewhere else. How about... Kakariko?"

Link raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. Still, it felt like there had to be a reason he suggested Kakariko...  
Regardless, he pulled out the Sheikah Slate and warped over. In mere seconds, they were all whisked away.

***

"Link... There's something I wanted you to remember." Revali whispered. "I suppose I could have told you to warp closer, but..."

"What is it?"

"Go back to that first memory you found." He instructed. "At the Lanayru East Gate. There's... There's something you need to see."

Deciding that the goddess statue could wait, Link set off. By now it was night again, so he took care to be quiet as he could as he snuck by the animals and fairies. Down the path, down to the gate.

There, he was overwhelmed by feeling again, Revali leaning close to him, just like they had-

***

It was directly after that other memory, a continuation. Revali was about to leave, and Link knew what would happen. He knew that this was the last time they would physically see each other.  
Something inside him told him that it wasn't just him looking back on the moment thinking that, but that Link had known too. He had a sinking feeling in his gut saying that they wouldn't come back from this alive.

So, in one bold moment, not a word passing between them, he grabbed ahold of Revali's scarf. Squeezing his eyes shut, he leaned in and pressed their foreheads together. Even though it wasn't an intimate gesture for a Hylian to touch foreheads, there was something... Different.  
Touching Revali set his skin on fire, his face turning read and his heart pounding. It was only seconds that they were together, but the feeling could last him forever. It was a kiss in all respects but the lips.

"I think I know what we are." Link signed, and Revali nodded.

"I guess we'll just have to wait." He grinned. "After all, we have a world to save... Hero."

With that, he flew away, and Link would never see him again.

***

"We were going to get married, after it was all over." Link signed, stunned. "That's what we meant, isn't it?"

Revali nodded. "We wanted to, at least. When everything was alright again..."

"Then why don't we? When it's over?"

He blinked. "You would marry the voice in your head?"

Link shook his head. "No, it's not... I can see you guys, sometimes. When I close my eyes..."

He let his eyes fall shut, and there they were. It was hazy, sure, but there they all were with him. Except...

Revali looked stunning. His braids were done in a different color, the orange ribbon exchanged for a bright yellow. The beads at the ends had been exchanged for sharp points, like Teba wore.

Slowly, he turned around, and they met eyes.

Dressed exquisitely, Link recognized it as the traditional Rito formalwear. The red of his leather shin guards and other armor was replaced by black. His normal leather skirt was red cloth instead, with intricate gold beadwork around the edge. His shoulders were decorated with two sets of wing-like pauldrons instead of just one, in all sorts of colored stripes. The champions scarf, as always, was neatly tied around his neck.

Link was in his Champions garb, but with the Rito headdress tying up his hair. He was surprised to see that the ribbons through his braids were dark blue instead of white.

Dark blue, like Revali.

His were bright yellow, like his hair.

That simple gesture had him blushing as he stepped forward to meet Revali.

"You look beautiful." He whispered, and Link found his hands unable to exchange words.

"Should we do it now?" He finally signed, and Revali laughed.

"What else are we dressed for? Why put it off any longer?"

And Link ignored the hint of sadness in his eyes, the little bit of tears. Revali wouldn't want attention drawn to that, after all.

Especially not on his wedding day.

Urbosa lead the ceremony in a more Hylian style, but every other word seemed covered up by Link's heart beating loud in his chest.

"I do."

"I do."

And they kissed, for both forever and no time at all.

***

When Link opened his eyes, his hair was still braided with the ribbon. He was still wearing the champion's tunic, and the Champions were still there... Just only in his head.

"Now, to the goddess statue." Revali ushered.

He pulled out the Sheikah Slate, took a deep breath, and warped back to Kakariko.

It was time to finish this.

***

The sanctum stared back at Link as he prepared himself. By all means he was ready, but...

"I love you." He signed.

"I love you too." Revali whispered back.

"We will be there for you." Mipha promised. "You can count on us."

"It's time to give him all you've got." Urbosa agreed.

"Go get him, Little Guy!"

And he stepped forward.

***

It had been weeks since Link defeated Ganon, and he didn't feel a thing. His whole chest felt numb, as if he was trapped between memory and reality... Permanently. 

And he was alone.

Alone.

Zelda was there, but she had the responsibility of rebuilding the world on her shoulders. Everywhere they went, people were ready to back her up, and he was too, but...

They were all gone. 

Revali was gone.

There was no endless chatter in his head, no ceaseless marching songs, and he missed them no matter how badly they got stuck in his head. He talked to himself now, because there was no one there to reply.

They had kissed for the last time, and Revali flew away into the darkness.

But, at the same time, he was alway there.

In his head, and in his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr is Supertinydom or Supertinywords, I currently don't have requests open, but I do take them, and comments are love!


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